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suddenly as if he had been hit by a bullet, and with a very forcible gesture, cried out "Go to your Company, go to your Company!" Which order, I willingly obeyed.

This brings us back to the charge, which as before intimated, only lasted a few minutes; in which three or four of our men were killed -- one named Green, a boy eighteen years old, who had joined our Company two weeks prior to the fight. He being young and thoughtless, did not throw down his gun immediately after the surrender, and some said he advanced toward some Federals with his gun in his hand, when some one shot him. There were a half dozen wounded. I do not know how many of the enemy were killed. The first man who mounted the breastworks, a color bearer, was killed. He lay that night where he fell, with the flag he bore, spread over him.

We did not see out any more after the surrender -- two hours by sun, until night; the breastworks being lined with Federal soldiers, not all as guards, but thousands in addition, asking questions and passing jokes.

We slept on our blankets that night, inside the wall, while the Sentinels paced their post upon the breastworks around us.

My feelings at the time of the surrender, I can scarcely describe -- my first impulse was a feeling of relief, for I knew that if we had not surrendered that soon, all would have been killed. I then thought of home and loved ones, and the little probability of ever returning.

On the afternoon of March 15th, 1864, we were marched to the river, and went aboard a gunboat, "no. 13", and launched out about dark; we knew not whither. One time in the night we ran into the great "Father of Waters" [Mississippi River], the boat turning down stream. We were convinced that New Orleans was our destination.

As we passed Port Hudson, they fired a signal gun, for the vessel to haul in, and let its business be known; the Capt. however, paid no attention to it, and they repeated it, this time, with a solid ball, which struck the water before it reached us; then a third, which went over and beyond, then a fourth, which cut a post (which was one of a number that supports the hurricane deck), only a few feet from me. The Capt. seeing the danger, rang the bell, face about, and went back; and he and the Commander had some sharp words, after which all went well until sun up next morning the 16th, we arrived arrived [sic] at Baton Rouge, where we were taken off, and marched to the Penitentiary.

We did not have an idea however, where we were going, until we were ushered into the outer gate; and I would not have known it then, never having seen one before, if some of the boys had not cried out "Penitentiary". We next went into the door of the building that enclosed the cells. An iron shutter closed behind us, and we were in the Penitentiary. We slept in the cells that night.

Spent the 17th and till 11:00 o'clock that night, there, when we were taken out by a Ky. Reg't., and marched to the river, and out aboard a boat (I have forgotten the name) and at sunrise, the 18th, we landed at the Crescent City [New Orleans]. The city and shipping was a great sight to me, and I suppose it was to all who had not before seen it. The shipping, at a distance, reminded me of an old cedar brake. The river was very high, and it appeared to me, that the surface of the


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EARLY DAYS OF PITTSBURG, TEXAS 1859-1874
Life of John C. Porter and Sketch of His Experiences in the Civil War

John C. Porter 1874